Hello all,
I thought I would talk about loans and borrowing money today. Ive recently decided to look at loans (particularly small loans by friends and family, in a different light)
Here it is:
When times are prosperous people borrow money from friends/family and normally have no problem paying the loan back because there are plenty of jobs and business opportunities. Because of the prosperity that everyone is enjoying they generally don’t think about the downside to having a loan.
The problem comes when times are not prosperous and people borrow money from friends and family. Im not talking about deadbeat relatives that always are “bumming” money from everyone, Im talking about your normal person here. What Ive noticed happens when you loan them some money for them to get through the next month or to get their cars transmission fixed or whatever, is that the small loan becomes a huge weight for these people’s conscious’s. Because of the bad economy or their financial circumstances, they have just gotten themselves into a more difficult situation then they were in before. And you helped them get into this situation, by your well meaning loan.
You see taking a loan for anything is taking the easy way in almost all cases. You learn nothing about real life by taking a loan. Getting loans allows you to comfortably step over lifes canyons, when really you need to sit down and figure your own way across the canyon even if it takes some time, sacrifice and “gasp”…pain. The reason for this is that you will be guaranteed to have more canyons in your future and if you never learned how to make a rope bridge, or you never tried to hike into and out of a canyon or hang-glide across a canyon you wont have the knowledge and skills necessary to cross the next canyon in life.
If you are still paying on a loan that easily got you over your last canyon and you come to a new canyon and you of course don’t know how to cross it, your only thought is to take another loan. If you are the person taking the loans it is obvious with this example that you are wrong and you need to become self sufficient and learn how to cross canyons in your own way which will build your trust in God, wisdom and self reliance. If you are the person giving loans and not allowing your friend to cross these canyons on their own, you are hindering them and their personal development.
So what to do when we see friends and family in financial trouble and want to help? The best thing is to give encouragement a helping hand when possible and financial gifts. Financial gifts are different from loans as they are normally smaller and more focused on a personal need. A financial gift will free the persons conscious from worry about having to pay back a larger loan. And they will still have to figure out their own way of crossing the canyon, which builds wealth in themselves in the form of wisdom that they can use to get across the next canyon more easily. And they will remember your gift when they get back on their feet and return the favor if you ever find yourself at the edge of a financial canyon.
Of course there are prideful people that will say that they cannot take a financial gift from you, and that they insist that it must be a loan and that they will pay it back. You must not give them the money gift if this is their attitude. You will only be enslaving them to a loan which will stunt their growth opportunities for the future. Only give them a money gift if they can accept it as a gift.
So that’s it about personal loans and gifts for friends and family. Also remember for yourself that you are only cheating yourself when you take out a loan or borrow money for a newer car, for a bigger house, for a church building, for some new clothes…whatever. You must learn to trust God, learn to be resourceful and build personal wisdom and courage to attain these things. If you want a snapshot of what happens when an entire country lives off of loans and doesn’t trust in God and doesn’t learn to be resourceful, but always sides steps the difficult canyons in life through loans and borrowing money you can take a look here: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/united-welfare-states-america-2011-nearly-half-population-received-some-form-government-benefit
People need to start trusting in God again and relying on their own brains and physical strength to get through lifes canyons. The culture of quick fix loans is coming to a natural end at least in America and you may find yourself on the wrong side of that 50% if you have not learned to trust God and build wisdom and ingenuity in yourself and the people around you.
Romans 13:8
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.”